Merry-go-round.



' 110.883,58@ PATENTED MAR.31,1908. A.M swEBTWOoD,

' MERRY-Go-ROUND.

APPLICATION rum) :mums 19o 7 4 sEnnTs-sHBET 1.

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VMBRRIZGO-ROUND. APPLICATIQX FILED JUNE 23,1907.

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akmus? No. 883,585. PATENTED MAR. 31, 1908. A. M. SWEETWOOD. v l

MERRY-Go-ROUND.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26.1907.

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ADDISON M. SWEETWOOD, BRADNER, OHIO.

MERRY-GO-ROUND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 26, 1907.

Patented March 31', 1908.

Serial No. 380,986.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ADDISON M. SWEET- wooD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Bradner, in the county of Wood and State .of Ohio,have invented new and useful lmprovements in Merry-Gro-Rounds, of whichthe following is a s eciiication.

This invention re ates to improvements in merry-go-rounds, one obj ectof the invention being to provide an apparatus of this characterembodying upper Aand lower carrier frames arranged to rotate in oppositedirections.

A further object is to provide a construction wherein the lower carrieris formed of a series of pivotally mounted sections on which the cars,horses, or other seat supports are mounted, and which are arranged totravel on an undulatory track as the a paratus revolves, and to have anup and vown or rising and falling motion simulatingv the motion of avessel giving what l term an ocean wave effect. l

A further object of the invention is to construct the undulatory trackin such a manner as to provide alternating ascending and descendingportions, and to arrange the seat supports so that they will be free formovement between the ascending portions of the track, and to provideyielding spring cushioning means for said supports, permitting them torise and fall and to vibrate in a vertical plane when unsupported,thereby in* creasing the Hocean wave" effect referred to.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a construction ofupper carrier comprising a platform composed of a series of springsupported yielding sections adapted to vertica ly vibrate in theoperation of the apparatus to add to the zest and exhilaration thereof,and to further so construct and ar range the parts as to cause theoppositely rotating action of the two carriers to visually create theimpression of the rotation of the apparatus at a very rapid rate ofspeed.

A still further object of the invention is to construct the apparatus asan entirety in such a manner as to permit it to have a slight lateralswaying motion, thus preventing undesirable rigidity, and in whichconnecting and supporting means of novel and improved construction arerovided to in crease the strength and stabilpity of the parts.

lVith these and other objects in view the invention consists of thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in whichzw Figure 1 is a side elevation of a merry-goroundembodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on line 2 2 ofFig. 1, Fig.

3 is a sectional plan view on line 3-3' of Fig.

1, Fig, 4 is a central vertical section through the shafts andsupporting heads, Fig. 5 is a similar view of the guy connection or cappiece upon the upper end of the central shaft, Fig. 6 is a-detail crosssection through a pivoted supporting arm of one of the car-l rlers,showing the mode of yieldingly supporting the same, Fig. 7 is a detailview showing the construction and mode of mounting the rollers or wheelsupon the supporting arms of the lower carrier.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the main or centralshaft of the apparatus, which is journaled at its lower end in a hollowdrive shaft 2, journaled in turn at its lower end in a base or bearingblock 3. The block 3 is provided with a socket or concavity 4 in whichturns a bearing ball 5 having a plug 6 threaded into the lower end ofthe shaft 2, the upper surface of said plug being formed with aconcavity 7 receiving abearing ball 8 formed or welded upon the lowerend of the shaft 1, by which the two shafts are j ournaled for rotationupon a common sup ort.

The shafts 1 an 2 respectively support upper and lower oppositelyrotating carriers A and B, and are geared for rotation in reversedirections in the manner hereinafter described. Arranged upon the upperend of the shaft 1 is a guy connection or cap piece comprising a collar9 suitably fixed to rotate with said shaft and formed to provide in itsupper surface a cup 10, in which is disposed a series of bearing balls11. A second collar 12 is arranged above the collar 9 and looselyencompass the shaft and has its lower face formed to provide a cone 13projecting into the cup and coacting therewith to form a raceway for thebearing balls. Arms 14 projectupwardly from the collar 12 and carry asocket piece 15, forming a spider to support a suitable crown ornament,such as a flag 16,-

the ground, thus supporting the shafts in an effective manner. Theseguys are relied upon as the main supports for the apparatus as anentirety, and, owing to their slight yielding character and the factthat the shafts are pivotally supported from the bearing plate 3 by thebearing member 5, it will be understood that the device will bepermitted to have a slight lateral vibratory or oscillatory motion, thuspreventing undesirable rigidity without imparing the stability of thestructure.

The upper rotary carrier l comprises a top canopy 19 secured at itsupper end to the shaft 1 by a crown piece 20 and having depending fromthe rim of the frame thereof; which may be of any of the usualconstructions, a series of annularly arranged hanger rods 21, supportingat their lower ends the sections of an annular platform 22. Therespective segments or sections 23 of this platform have a lappingarrangement at their ends, the ends of each platform section beingrespectively arranged beneath and above the ends of the two adjacentsections, thus permitting the sections to have free independent verticalmovement. The sections are mounted at one end upon the hanger rods 2.1and are pivotally connected at their opposite ends in any preferredmanner, as at 24, upon the outer ends of a series of radial supportingarms 25 yieldingly connected at their inner ends with the shaft 1. Asshown, a head 26 is mounted upon the shaft and comprises upper and lowerdisks or spiders 27 and 28 coupled by inner and outer annular rows ofbolts 29 and 30. The arms 25 extend at their inner ends between said disks and are formedwith flared openings 31 to pivotally engage the innerbolts 29. The outer bolts 30 are arranged in pairs, and between thebolts of each pair extend the arms 25, which are guided in their pivotalmovement thereby. A coiled cushioning spring 32 surrounds each pair ofbolts 30 and is disposed between the arm 25 and the lower disk 28, by

,which the arm is yieldingly supported and is adapted to rise and fallor swing in a vertical plane. Cars, horses and other figures ofdifferent kinds may be mounted upon the platform sections 23, and, asthe carrier A rotates, the olting motion of the parts will be sufficientto cause the said platform sections to vibrate in a vertical plane,which action is permitted by the pivotal connections of said arms withthe head 26, and the cushioning springs 32. A flight of steps 33, orother means, may be provided for the ascent and descent of thepassengers passing to and from the carrier A, thus allowing easy accessto the same from the ground without interfering with the inlet and exitof passengers to and from the lower carrier B.

The lower carrier B comprises aseries of seat supports consisting ofradially arranged i will be permitted to drop or descend sud- 130 eacharm 34 are arranged in different sub stantially parallel planes, oneabove the other, and are connected by risers or uprights 34C, the outerend 34b being provided with a pair of the wheels or rollers 35 to runupon the respective rails and serving to support the car, an animalfigure, or other type of seat support employed. As illustrated in Fig.7, each whee 35 is journaled upon a yoked bracket 35a fixed to the armin any suitable manner.

The arms 34 are yieldingly connected and supported from the shaft 2 inlike manner to the way in which the arms 25 of the upper carrier areconnected and yieldingly supported from the shaft l. By reference toFig. 4, it Will be seen that a head 4() is mounted upon the shaft 2 andcomprises upper and lower spaced spiders or disks 4l and 42., connectedby inner and outer annular series of bolts 43 and 44, the bolts 44 beingarranged in pairs. The arms 34 extend between the disks 4l and 42 andbetween the pairs of vbolts 44, by which they are guided in theirpivotal movements, the inner extremities of the arms being formed withflared. openings 45 pivotally engaging the bolts 43. Coiled cushioningsprings 46 surround the bolts 44' of each pair and yieldingly supportand cushion the arms 34, thus permitting said arms to have vertical playor vibratory motion. The construction of the track and relativearrangement of the seat supporting arms is such that the wheels orrollers 35 travel on the upwardly inclined portions 38 of the track andat the limit of downward movement of the arms lie above and out ofcontact with the depending portions 39 of the track, so that in therotation of the carrier the rollers in traveling up the inclined trackportions 38 will elevate the arm, which, upon passing the highest pointof the elevated portions, will be unsupported above the lowest portions39 until, in the continued rotation of the carrier, the rollers reach apoint about midway of the distance between the depressed portions andhighest portions of the track, when they will again come in contact withthe track. Hence it will be apparent that as soon as the wheels pass thehighest portion of a track elevation, the arms denly under the Weight ofthe cars and their occupants, such movement being permitted by theyielding action of the springs 46, which by their reaction orrebounding, will then expand and force the arms upwardly, which actionwill continue alternately until the wheels again engage the track,thereby producing a yieldingvibratory up and down bouncing action,vertical vibration or oscillation of the arms and Vseat supports carriedthereby, whereby in connection with the limited lateral oscillatorymotion of the apparatus as a whole, the motion of a vessel upon thewaves of the ocean is closely simu-I lated.

At the upper portions of the base of the apparatus and covering thecarrier B is an annular canopy 47, the frame of which is supported by anannular series of posts 48, suitably anchored upon a base frame,constituting a bottom stationary platform, or in the ground. Inpractice, rotary motion may be imparted directly to the shaft 2 from anysuitable type of motor by any preferred type of driving mechanism, notshown, and in order to transfer motion to the shaft l from the shaft 2beveled gears 49 and 50 are arranged upon said shafts and mesh with anintervening transmission pinion 51 journaled upon a supporting bar 52extending from one of the posts 4S. By this construction, it will beseen that the two shafts will be rotated in reverse directions and. willimpart corresponding reverse rotary movement to the two carriers A andB, such opposite motion giving the visual impression of the operation ofthe apparatus at a much higher rate of speed than it may actually inpractice operate. In their movement in a circular path, the seatsupports of the lower carrier will be alternately raised and lowered intheir travel in passing over the inclined planes and depressions of theannular trackway and bounced or oscillated by the action of the springs,thus creating an ocean wavel effect, whereby added. interest andamusement is afforded. By themode of pivotally mounting the supportingarms upon the respective heads on the shafts, a cushioning action issecured to prevent too violent jolting or jarring and avoid liability ofinjury to the parts of the mechanism.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new, is

l. In a merry-go-round, the combination of a bottom bearing, ahollow'shaft pivotally and rotatably mounted upon said bearing, a secondshaft journaled for rotation in the hollow shaft, carriers supported bythe respective shafts, the apparatus as a whole as thus constructedbeing adapted to have universal lateral vibration, gearing for drivingthe shafts, and means connected to the upper end of the internal shaftfor limiting such vibration.

2. In a merry-go-round, a bottom bearing, a hollow shaft having arounded journal turning in said bearing, a central shaft journaled atits lower end within the hollow shaft, carriers supported by the shaftsgearing between saidshafts to rotate them in reverse directions, andmeans connected with the upper end of the central shaft to support theapparatus in an upright osition.

3. In a merry-go-rounc, the combination of a hollow driving shaftjournaled for universal lateral oscillation, a center shaft j ourn'aledin said driving shaft, gearing between i said shafts for rotating themin' reverse directions, carriers upon the respective shafts, meansconnected with the central shaft for limiting the lateral vibratorymotion of the apparatus, seat supports upon the respective carriers, ands ringcushioning means associated with sai support for permitting thesame to vibrate vertically.

4. In a merry-go-round, a rotary shaft, arms pivotally mounted from theshaft and extending radially therefrom, cushioning springs associatedwith the pivotal connections to ermitthe arms to vibrate vertically, anan annular platform comprising a series of sections, each supported atone end by the frame structure of the apparatus and pivotally connectedat its opposite end with. one of the radial arms.

5. A merry-go-round comprising co-axially j ournaled shafts mounted foruniversal lateral vibration, means for limiting such vibration, upperand lower carriers supported by said shafts, means for imparting reverserotation to the shafts, and means for permitting the seats of therespective carriers to have a yielding vertical vibratory motion.

6. In amerry-go-round, a rotary shaft, an annular trackway around theshaft provided with alternately arranged elevated and depressedportions, seat supports pivotally mounted upon the shaft and providedwith rollers to travel said trackway, and cushioning springs associatedwith said supports, the arrangement being such that the wheels travelover the depressed portions of the trackway without contactingtherewith.

7. A merry-go-round comprising a hollow driving shaft, a central shaftjournaled therein and extending thereabove, a carrier on the hollowshaft including yielding spring cushioned seat supports and means foreffecting a vibratory action thereof, a carrier upon the central shafthavingV a latform composed of pivoted sections yiel ingly and pivotallysupported from said shaft, and means for rotating said shafts in reversedirections.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ADDISON M. SVVEETVVOOD.

Witnesses:

JOHN S. HOYMAN, MINA C. BREssLER.

